Echolalia Revisited

Last week, we were getting some snacks in the kitchen.  Suddenly Eric says, "You know, when I was little I used to repeat everything you said."  Eric as an infant developed typically up to around age 2. Then gradually regressed. So slowly we hardly noticed. By the time he was almost four he had regressed to the echolalia stage.  And was stuck there.  Then I asked why he did that, repeat everything. He replied, "I was just trying to learn to speak."